1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cellular telephones and, in particular, to display systems for cellular telephones.
2. Description of Related Art
Cellular telephones are increasingly becoming more sophisticated and, consequently, more complex and difficult to use. More specifically, the number of user features provided by cellular telephones are increasing at dramatic rates. These features create several design challenges for cellular telephone manufacturers. On one hand, there is a demand for telephones to have a minimal number of buttons. One reason is that consumers want small telephones. Increasing the number of buttons increases the size and weight of the telephone. Additionally, a telephone with too many buttons intimidates many people that are not comfortable with modern technology and its complexity. Thus, to satisfy those users that "don't want all those fancy features", a cellular phone is needed which appears to do little more than dial numbers.
As a result, telephone designers are creating a user interface in which applications or telephone functions are selectable through comprehensive menu systems. It is believed however, that many functions and applications are not used as frequently they might be because of the menu driven user interface. There are several reasons for this. First, many users are not aware of the large number of the telephone features that are available. The reason is that menu systems on telephones are text based lists of features. A user must, therefore, select a list and then scroll from top to bottom of the display screen to find a specified feature. Obviously, having large numbers of user features on the telephone results in the number and length of the lists being large.
As a result of the trend to create multiple lists of user features, some of which can be large, many features are not used simply because the arrangement of menu options requires that those features be discovered by one bold and interested enough to press buttons on the cellular telephone to see what happens. User features are also not used in some instances even if a user is aware that a telephone has a specified feature. One reason is that it is frequently difficult to remember how to find and then activate the feature. Thus, current telephones have menu systems which are not intuitive and whose selectable functions are not always easy to find.
Another problem with current menu systems is that there is a need to develop universal menu systems which may be readily understood by people having differing native tongues. In the European market, for example, a telephone having text only menus must have the capability of displaying the menus in multiple languages so that users in different countries may properly understand the menu selections. As may readily be appreciated, developing menu systems in multiple languages increases system complexity as well as the user interface. What is needed, therefore, is a cellular telephone having a user interface whose menu system is user friendly and which allows for quicker feature selection in a manner which is largely independent of language.